Restoration hardware patio bar…that’s what I call it (ever since Karin recommended it).
Or have called it ever since I went there for the first time four years ago.
While I haven’t been since last summer, Lift Bar Grill View is really more than a mind-blowing patio that makes me think of Heinekens/scotch, chinos, comfy patio furniture, fire pits, and Cohibas. So allow me to cut them a slice…
Lift Bar Grill View is perched precariously along the Coal Harbour end of the seawall (before Stanley Park and next to the Westin Bayshore) at 333 Menchions Mews.
Aside from their partnership with Monk McQueens and Monk’s Grill in Whistler, Lift Bar Grill View’s claims to fame:
- a tricked out 360 degree view upper patio (see ‘chinos’);
- a swanky lounge complete with an Italian marble countertop, cork floor, and kaleidoscope-like main bar (met Kelly Hrudey there once, so it has to be good); and
- a West coast inspired menu and correspondingly stacked wine list (both in terms of selection and pricing – but hey, what do I know?).
My most memorable experience was for a very special birthday (and she is reading this) dinner in the lounge (see ‘Kelly Hrudey’), a server name Gabriel Jones, and a sommelier named Kevin.
I’ll not soon forget how attentive Gabriel was to our needs, the occasion, with wine (not beer) pairing suggestions (thanks Kevin as well). To this day, Dona Paula Malbec remains one of our all-time favs.
While some of the buzz may have hushed slightly (or not-so-slightly, depending on who you ask) since Lift Bar Grill View threw open its doors in 2004, I still find myself recommending it to visitors, colleagues, friends, enemies, and even find myself down there from time-to-time on repeat business.
Given its rather bizarre, stilted, increasingly difficulty to park at, and right-in-the-flux-capacitor-of-Coal Habour-tourist-land location, Lift Bar Grill View is not first on my list of places to go.
BUT (and you knew there was going to be one)…
With the service I’ve got there in the past, though, Lift Bar Grill View is definitely in the top 10 for the wow factor alone (once you throw in the comfy patio furniture).
darren
ps - props to Perry Chua for the image
